Durtro/Jnana
Like Antony Hegarty and his Johnsons, Current 93's "Black Ships Ate the Sky" comes from a place so dark, it's hard to imagine the melodious cubism being consistently imagined by the artists (in this case, industrial veteran David Tibet and the many guests introduced here).
Here, "Sunset" bows down to cello with chivalric Tibetan enunciation. At a final resolution, "Black Ships" is a scary and glorious quid pro quo. For every spine-tingling "The Dissolution of 'The Boat Millions of Years'" buried under the dirt of the skip key, there is an "Idumæa" that allows Bonnie "Prince" Billy to rise from the grave sounding like Ralph Stanley.
Forces stronger than you are at work here, and I'd imagine even Trent Reznor would give this one a listen.
- Danny Marroquin
